If there’s one thing that science fiction and fantasy can teach us, it’s that calamity is only as far away as the author’s need to provide readers with their next thrill. Real life is much the same. While each of us hopes to remain safe and undisturbed in our homes, it is still a good idea to have on hand a go-bag filled with the necessities you would need if circumstances forced you to suddenly evacuate.
Necessities include the obvious (clothes, meds, food, water, and such) but one can make a case for entertainment as well. After all, you might find yourself waiting in spartan conditions for some time. Having a distraction on hand might well make a stressful situation less stressful. Which raises the obvious question: which tabletop roleplaying game should be in my emergency go bag?
Tabletop roleplaying games have an admirable ratio of potential entertainment hours to weight. One can spin out years of adventure from a single, well-designed set of rules. Or, given a sufficiently inspired gamemaster, from a poorly-designed set of rules. In regular life, any set of rules you enjoy will do. However, I argue that there are criteria for go bag-worthy TTRPGs that will dramatically narrow down the candidates.
First, the game should be available to you—which for a lot of people just now considering this issue, boils down to “the game should be in print.” You cannot pack away a game you cannot acquire.
The first criterion is the least restrictive criterion, as so many games are in print just now. The range of TTRPGs available for purchase, both reprints of ancient classic games and new games, is simply astonishing to anyone old enough to remember when buying RPGs required a trek to the nearest million-person city.
Second, the rules should be on paper, not in some electronic format. In part this is because PDFs are the spawn of Satan, but (more importantly) it’s because you cannot be certain that you will have access to electricity wherever you find refuge. Physical rulebooks require only a source of light and eyes to read them with (or fingertips for those of you reading Braile).
The second criterion will eliminate a lot of games. Focusing on electronic-only games makes sense for publishers. They don’t have to worry about rising paper costs, they can offer immediate gratification via online sales, and customers can store on their phones and tablets RPG libraries that if on paper would require hundreds of meters of shelves to store.
Third, the rules should be comprehensive, rather than requiring ancillary materials for full functionality. Among other things, this has implications concerning dice: fewer are better.
The third criterion will, alas, eliminate many favorites. Seventh edition Call of Cthulhu has two core books, the Keeper and the Investigator books. Dungeons and Dragons, for example, requires groups to have three books, Dungeon Master’s Guide, Player’s Guide, and the Monster Manual.
Fourth, the game should be light. You may be carrying that go bag for some time.
The fourth criterion is also restrictive. The Dragonbane box set comes with everything you need, but it’s heavy. Swords of the Serpentine is likely comprehensive (and the mechanics demand only a single six-sided die!) but the hardcover rulebook is a massive tome. The seventh edition Call of Cthulhu slipcase is weighty enough that one can use it to bludgeon Deep Ones into submission. There are single-tome editions of Champions but the mechanics require fistfuls of six-sided dice.
Fifth, there is no fifth criterion. I am as surprised as you are. Breaking Tor.com tradition!
While the above criteria eliminate legions of TTRPGs, many games satisfy all four needs. When I scan my TTRPG library I note a few obvious candidates. Here are my top five picks.
Icons Superpowered Roleplaying by Steve Kenson. The game is compact, the rules are comprehensive, and gameplay requires only two six-sided dice.
Monsterhearts 2 by Avery Alder is one of the many games that use the Powered by the Apocalypse game engine. Gamers play high school students whose already stressful academic careers are complicated by the fact that each and every one of them is a monster of one sort or another.
Mörk Borg by Pelle Nilsson, Johan Nohr, and Patrick Stuart is an experiment in bleak nihilism verging on black humor. Trapped in a doomed fantasy world, player characters are certain to enjoy eventful lives…if not necessarily for long.
M-Space by Clarence Redd belongs to the Basic Roleplaying genus of games, by way of the Design Mechanism’s Mythras. This science fiction tabletop roleplaying game offers some ingenious game mechanics that are delivered in a compact, perfect bound rulebook. In fact, loving SF as I do, this impressive game would be my top choice, were it not for my final choice…
Traveller, Little White Book Edition by Marc Miller is a venerable science fiction roleplaying game. Requiring only two dice to play, Traveller is the product of an era when assumptions about what kind of role players might want were very different than today. Consequently, the facsimile edition contains everything needed to create one’s own setting, from worlds to the people in them…all in a single 6×9, 160-page perfect bound rulebook.
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The tabletop roleplaying world being as diverse as it is, I am absolutely certain there are choices just as worthy as those above, overlooked simply because I have not yet encountered them. Feel free to make the case for your favorites in comments below.
In the words of fanfiction author Musty181, four-time Hugo finalist, prolific book reviewer, and perennial Darwin Award nominee James Davis Nicoll “looks like a default mii with glasses.” His work has appeared in Interzone, Publishers Weekly and Romantic Times as well as on his own websites, James Nicoll Reviews (where he is assisted by editor Karen Lofstrom and web person Adrienne L. Travis) and the 2021, 2022, and 2023 Aurora Award finalist Young People Read Old SFF (where he is assisted by web person Adrienne L. Travis). His Patreon can be found here.
